Chicken Scaloppine with Pepperonata

Posted on April 30, 2014 by jacky grace

It’s a super rare occasion when I follow a recipe to the letter.

But when I saw this recipe in Cooking Light Magazine I knew I would not veer from the path.

Peppers and onions cooked down with cherry tomatoes bursting with juicy freshness and a chicken cutlet seared in butter? In

You will need

3 bell peppers, sliced (any color is fine. I used one each of red, yellow and green for a pretty plate)
1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
flour
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon butter

Drizzle olive oil in a pan and add the peppers and onions.

Let these cook down for a good fifteen minutes or so.

Then add the tomatoes and garlic and season with salt and pepper

And let cook for another 10 minutes. The tomatoes will start to burst

Remove the mixture from the pan and set aside.

Now, time to get out some aggression.

Lay your chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap. (I know I said two chicken breasts but the store only had three small ones in a pack, so we’ll each have one and a half). Using your rolling pin, pound the chicken breasts out.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dip in flour and shake off excess. Drop a tablespoon of butter into the pot you cooked the pepper mixture in and lay the chicken breasts out.

Because they are so thin, they cook pretty quickly. A few minutes on each side and they are golden.

Serve the chicken alongside the pepper mixture (pepperonata)

Spring Stirfry

Posted on April 23, 2014 by jacky grace

Stirfry is one of those lovely dishes that lets you throw in whatever you have on hand.

This version is sort of a celebration of spring, if you will. Tender asparagus, snow peas, scallions, garlic. All very light, fresh flavors that signal the coming of warmer weather.

To get started, drizzle some vegetable oil in a pan and toss in your snow peas and asparagus. I cut mine into relatively bit-size lengths.

Sautee for a few minutes and then add some chopped ginger and garlic.

A dash of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil

And you have a delicious stirfry to spoon over rice.

I added a handful of shredded cabbage at the last minute for some crunch.

Serve over rice.

Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds

Roasted Tomato Grilled Cheese

Posted on April 22, 2014 by jacky grace

A juicy tomato nestled in a gooey grilled cheese is one of life’s simple pleasures.

And two slices of white bread, some cheese and a tomato slice has its place.

But sometimes, you want to pump it up a bit.

And that’s where roasting tomatoes comes in.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice your tomatoes and place them on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Season with olive oil, salt and lots of black pepper.

Roast for about 45 minutes, until the tomatoes are toasty and golden.

Place the tomatoes in your food processor or blender

And blend til you have a smooth spread

Spread the tomato sauce on both sides of your bread

layer with mozzarella and fontina

and lid it.

melt some butter on a skillet and place your sandwich in the pool of butter.

Cook until golden brown, then flip and cook the other side.

Slice and enjoy.

Quick Quesedillas

Posted on April 19, 2014 by jacky grace

This is a non recipe recipe.

This is for one of those nights when you need something to eat super quickly and you really can’t be bothered with real cooking.

Or when you have hungry kids who need food immediately.

Or, for one of those nights when you come home from the bar and you can’t find a pizzeria and you need something to soak up the alcohol.

I’m not judging.

So I took a jar of salsa and mixed it with a can of rinsed and drained black beans.

Put two tortillas on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Spooned some of the bean and salsa mix on one of the tortillas

Added some monterey jack cheese

And popped it under the broiler for a few minutes

Top with the naked tortilla.

Slice into fourths.

And nom.

After school snack. Quick dinner. Sober-you-up food.

Noodles with broccoli and cabbage

Posted on April 16, 2014 by jacky grace

I love pasta.

In any form.

And I mean any form.

Think beyond Italian here.

A nice big bowl of noodles with vegetables in a rich peanut buttery and sesame and sauce?

I’m all in.

I recently discovered soba noodles. Let me tell you, they are your best friend if you need to get dinner on the table fast. They cook in like two minutes and they are great hot right away or cold as leftovers the next day. Soba noodles are super thin buckwheat noodles that provide vitamin b, manganese and can help lower cholesterol.

Healthy little noodle!

I pile mine high with vegetables and whip up a quick little sesame sauce to toss everything with.

For the sauce you will need creamy peanut butter, tahini, rice wine vinegar and soy sauce

Mix together 1 teaspoon of each ingredient in a large bowl. Start with a teaspoon and then taste. You may want more sesame than peanut, or more vinegar than the salt from the soysauce, so adjust accordingly.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and toss in some broccoli. You can use whatever vegetables you wish really, but I’m partial to broccoli and cabbage.

cook the broccoli for a minute or so. You want it to be crispy still.

Use a scoop to remove the broccoli and leave the water behind. Toss the broccoli into the bowl with your sauce. It’s okay if some water goes in too. It will thin out the sauce and help you coat the broccoli.

We’re going to cook the noodles in it. 1. we only dirty one pot that way and 2 the noodles pick up a hint of the broccoli flavor from the water.

When the noodles are cooked, toss those in with the broccoli.

Then add a few handfuls of shredded cabbage. I use coleslaw mix because it’s cheap, it’s easy and you get cabbage and carrots!

Give the bowl a big stir, coating everything with the sesame sauce.

Serve up in bowls topped with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Takeout?

Why bother!

Kalamata Olive, Feta, Arugula Pizza

Posted on April 12, 2014 by jacky grace

Friday night in my house has always been pizza night.

Which is very convenient during Lent when you need meat free dinners on Friday nights!

Now, pizza every Friday can sound a little boring.

But the thing about pizza is the possibilities are endless.

Mushroom ricotta, tomato basil, broccoli mozzarella…

Or, for something a little different, how about a Greek pizza?

Kalamata olives, feta and arugula.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Stretch out your dough and sprinkle with feta.

Add some pitted and chopped Kalamata olives

And then toss into the oven for about 10 minutes. We want to cook most of the way.

Then we’re going to remove form the oven, and sprinkle with arugula and add a drizzle of olive oil.

Back in the oven for another 4 minutes or so to wilt the arugula.

Then slice and enjoy.

A blend of Greece and Italy.

Hey, just like me and my fiance!

Gnocchi!

Posted on April 8, 2014 by jacky grace

Gee, are’t you glad we’ve galloped along to the letter g?

And to a big ol bowl of gnocchi!

I love gnocchi.

But it’s not a dish I grew up with.

See, Italian food is very regionally specific. My family comes from Naples and gnocchi comes from Northern Italy, the other side of town.

So I don’t have a gnocchi recipe passed down from my grandma.

Instead, I have one I found on Food 52 courtesy of Christina. This is her grandma DiLaura’s gnocchi recipe.

So thank you, Christina for sharing, and thank you, grandma DiLaura for passing it down.

Most people think of potato dumplings when they think of gnocchi. But that’s just limiting yourself to the vast potentials of gnocchi! This recipe here is a ricotta version that is the lighter fluffier more pillowy cousin of the potato gnocchi.

It sounds intimidating, making your own gnocchi. But I promise you, it’s super simple and well worth the extra 20 minutes or so that making your own takes versus opening a package from the grocery store.

You will need

1pound fresh whole milk ricotta cheese
1large egg
1tablespoon olive oil
1/4cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2cups flour, sifted, plus extra for rolling dough

Add the ricotta egg and oil to a bowl and mix.

add the parmesan and mix

add the flour, one cup at a time, mixing in between.

stir until the dough comes together

then turn out onto a floured surface

Divide the dough, lengthwise, into 4 pieces so it’s easier to work with.

Now, like when you were a kid playing with playdough, start rolling the dough section out like a snake.

working your hands out from the center so the snake gets longer and thinner

when it’s about 1-2 inches wide (depending on how big you want your gnocchi) slice the dough into 1 inch pieces.

Next, take a fork and one of your little dumplings

and roll the gnocchi over the tines of the fork to make grooves in it

the sauce will stick inside those little ridges

Repeat until all your dough is made into cure little gnocchi

These can be used right away or they can be frozen for later use. If freezing, lay out on parchment paper in a single layer so the gnocchi aren’t touching and pop in the freezer for an hour.

Once they are frozen, you can pop them into a ziploc bag.

To prepare, remove from the freezer and drop gently into a pot of boiling water. Gnocchi are done when they rise to the top.

Top with a simple tomato sauce, pesto or aglio e olio

pasta e Fagioli

Posted on April 7, 2014 by jacky grace

I missed E on the A to Z challenge. I got hit with a stomach bug and couldn’t manage anything more than channel surfing on the couch.

I’m going to cheat a little and sneak in the e here with the f. The first thing I was able to eat was scrambled eggs. Made by mom. You’re never too old to ask mom to come take care of you when you’re sick! And no matter what, mom’s scrambled eggs always taste better than mine.

So now I’m on the mend and I’m moving on to F.

Fagioli is Italian for beans.

Pasta e Fagioli is, simply, pasta and beans. It’s one of those amazingly simple Italian dishes that is really one of those poor man’s meals. I mean, it’s pasta and beans. Cheap ingredients. But those are the kind of meals that are the best.

Simple ingredients will always make the most delicious dinners.

There are two ways of making it. One’s in a red sauce and one’s in a garlicky white sauce. My family is partial to the red, so that’s what this recipe is for.

I’ve made it a couple times and have tweaked the recipe every time. But this time, I got it.

My fiance and my dad both told me to continue to make it this way. There are some times when you just don’t argue with the men in your life.

You will need:

1 15 oz can whole peeled plum tomatoes
1 can of cannellini beans
1 small white onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2/3 cup tomato puree
1-2 cups of water (depending on how thick you want it)
2 cups elbow macaroni (or any other short pasta)
olive oil
salt
pepper

In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, drizzle some olive oil and toss in the onions. Turn to medium heat.

When the onions are translucent, add the celery and the garlic. (My garlic is green. I know. As a time saver, we crush a bunch of garlic cloves and put the crushed cloves in a container with some olive oil and store it in the fridge. This is a meme trick. If the garlic is young, it will react with the olive oil and turn green. It’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just the color of the stuff that turned the turtles into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.)

Let the celery soften, then add the can of tomatoes.

And the tomato puree and 1 cup of water. Season with salt and pepper and let the mix simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Turn the burner off and, using an immersion blender (or a blender or food processor) blend the mix.

If, at this point, the mix is too thick for your taste, add in more water.

Turn the heat back to medium and add the rinsed and drained cannellini beans.

and your pasta and give a big stir.

Let this simmer for about ten minutes, until your pasta is cooked. You can let it go for longer on low. At this point, you can also pop it in the fridge for dinner another night.

Dish up a big bowl, add a piece of crusty bread and mangia!

Eggplant Parm. Baked Ziti

Posted on March 31, 2014 by jacky grace

So there’s a dish called Penne Al Forno, which is a baked penne dish with eggplant in it.

But let’s be real. This pile of cheesy, eggplanty, pasta-goodness can masquerade behind a fancy name all it wants. We know the truth. It’s really just an epic mashup of two of our favorites: eggplant parm and baked ziti.

And it is a glorious way to end a rainy, dreary Monday.

For this recipe you will need:

1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 box of pasta (penne’s great but I had elbows on hand. Use what you have!)
15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
mozzarella
parmesan
olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.

For this dinner, I used an ovenproof deep skillet so I could cut this down to a 2 pot night. But if you don’t have something that works, you can transfer from a skillet to a baking dish.

No problem.

Drizzle some olive oil in a pot and toss in your eggplant chunks. Season with salt and lots of black pepper.

When the eggplant is browned, add your garlic and the can of diced tomatoes and let the mix simmer away.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your pasta.

Add your drained pasta to the pot of eggplant and tomatoes (or transfer to a baking dish)

Toss in some chunks of mozzarella and then give a big stir.

Top with more mozzarella and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the cheese gets all melty.

Serve up heaping platefuls and enjoy two Italian classics in one.

Roasted Asparagus Over Spaghetti

Posted on March 27, 2014 by jacky grace

Asparagus is such a spring-time vegetable, don’t you think?

Maybe it’s the vibrant green. Or its resemblance to blades of grass.

It just has me thinking spring.

Unfortunately, the weather here is still winter arctic freezing!

SO as much as I want to make light, vibrant dishes, I’m still in need of something to warm me up after the walk home in the biting wind.

And that’s where this dish comes in. The asparagus of sprint time gets roasted for the warm and peppery taste we crave in the cold, and then tossed over spaghetti for the comfort that only a bowl of pasta can provide.

This little dish straddles the seasonal line.

And the best part?

6 ingredients! Total.

Asparagus
Spaghetti
Ricotta cheese
olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 and cover a cookie sheet in foil.

Slice you asparagus up into bit-sized chunks, lay on the cookie sheet and drizzle with some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Pop in the oven to roast for about 15- 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook your spaghetti.

When your spaghetti is cooked, drain the water and put the pasta back in the pot. Add a scoop of ricotta to the warm pasta and give it a stir until it melts in.

Top with the roasted asparagus and toss.

Dish up in big bowls.

And pray for spring.

Hey, you know how we wear pajamas inside out in hopes of a snow day?

Is there something to bring a Spring day?

Itty Bitty City Kitchen

tiny kitchen, BIG CULINARY ASPIRATIONS

Category Archives: Weeknight, One or 2 Pot Wonders